The human body is susceptible to many different types of infections from a variety of sources. Viral infection, usually in the form of the common cold, affects virtually everyone each year. While the coughing and sneezing associated with colds may be merely annoying, other common viral infections can be far more serious. Influenza, for example, remains a leading cause of hospitalization and death among Americans, accounting for an average of 36,000 fatalities and 114,000 hospitalizations per year.
Bacterial infections can be just as dangerous. Staphylococcus infections, which are caused by bacteria from the staphylococcus family, account for many serious post-surgical complications. Staphylococcus infection is also the leading culprit in cases of food poisoning, and can be responsible for such life-threatening conditions as Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS), pneumonia, bone infections (osteomyelitis), mastitis in nursing mothers, endocarditis (infection of the inside of the heart), and bacteremia (blood infection). People who are otherwise healthy typically do not become severely ill from staphylococcus infections, but individuals with weakened immune systems, including the elderly, newborns, and persons with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, cancer, lung disease, kidney disease, or HIV/AIDS, are at special risk.
Individuals with weakened immune systems are at risk from fungal infections. Fungal infections cause conditions in millions of people in the form of sinus infections, athlete's foot, and yeast infections.
The general term “pain” used herein represents all categories of pain, such as traumatic pain resulting from injury, post surgical pain, inflammatory pain; pain associated with disease such as cancer, AIDS, arthritis, herpes, migraine; pain associated with neuropathy such as diabetic neuropathy, causalgia, brachial plexus avulsion, occipital neuralgia, fibromyalgia, gout, and other forms of neuralgic, neuropathic and idiopathic pain syndromes; pain of varying severity, i.e. mild, moderate and severe pain; acute and chronic pain; and specific organ pain, such as ocular and corneal pain, bone pain, heart pain, skin/burn pain, visceral (kidney, gall bladder, etc.), joint, dental and muscle pain.
Connective tissues are subjected to a constant barrage of stress and injury. Acute or chronic impacts and the natural progression of various degenerative diseases all produce painful inflammation in joint regions, such as the neck, back, arms, hips, ankles and feet. These afflictions are common and often debilitating.
Current therapies of pain include the use of opiod narcotic analgesics such as morphine and fentanyl, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as aspirin, ibuprofen and cyclooxygenase inhibitors, or ion channel blockers such as lidocaine and novacaine. These therapies all have limitations, for example, they cause tolerance, dependence, constipation, respiratory depression and sedation (opiods). NSAIDS have gastrointestinal side effects and increase bleeding time, and are not effective in treating severe pain.
Inflammation is a localized reaction of live tissue due to an injury, which may be caused by various endogenous and exogenous factors. The exogenous factors include physical, chemical, and biological factors. The endogenous factors include inflammatory mediators, antigens, and antibodies. Endogenous factors often develop under the influence of an exogenous damage. An inflammatory reaction is often followed by an altered structure and penetrability of the cellular membrane. At the tissue and organ level, inflammation is indicated by pain, swelling, reddening, increased temperature, and loss of function in some cases.
Inflammation is influenced by various exogenous and endogenous agents. Endogenous factors, namely, mediators, antigens, and autogens define the nature and type of an inflammatory reaction, especially its course in the zone of injury. In the case where a tissue damage is limited to the creation of mediators, an acute form of inflammation develops. If immunologic reactions are also involved in the process, through the interaction of antigens, antibodies, and autoantigens, a long-term inflammatory process will develop. Various exogenous agents, for example, infection, injury, radiation, also provide the course of inflammatory process on a molecular level by damaging cellular membranes which initiate biochemical reactions.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), such as aspirin, can block certain links of an inflammatory process, but these drugs cannot stabilize damaged cellular membranes, which makes their influence on an inflammatory process limited and insufficient.
There is a need for a composition and a method for treating bacterial, viral, fungal diseases; inflammation or inflammatory-related disorders; pain; and skin conditions. The composition should be economic and easy to manufacture, and the method should be effective and have no significant side effects.